


nothing to say but i love you

by cresswell



Category: Embassy Row Series - Ally Carter
Genre: 3 + 1, Best Friends, F/M, Secret Flirting, it'll never be canon but that's okay
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-16
Updated: 2016-08-16
Packaged: 2018-08-09 03:58:59
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,516
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7785895
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cresswell/pseuds/cresswell
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Three times Noah flirts with Grace in Portuguese and one time she flirts back.</p>
            </blockquote>





	nothing to say but i love you

**Author's Note:**

> okaaaaay so i just finished see how they run and i love my kids a lot. i know they will never be canon but that's why we have fic. so. i tried.

**01.**

Grace falls asleep in Brazil from time to time after she and Noah have hung out and she’s stuffed herself full of oreos and can’t be bothered to drag herself back to America. Plus, the Brazilian embassy is full of light and color, which she much prefers to the sterile lighting and blank walls of the American embassy.

Noah’s bedroom is bigger than hers, most of it taken up by his bed, which is _huge_. Grace thinks it’s silly for him to have such a large bed when she’s almost certain she’s never seen him sleep. She’s not complaining, though-- it means more room for her to sprawl out on when she’s over.

She’s currently lying on her stomach on the said bed, sipping a homemade milkshake and watching Noah scroll through his Netflix recommendations. “Have you been watching Gossip Girl again?”

“Duh,” Noah says, like it should be obvious-- and it kind of is, based on his recommendations. He doesn’t bother acting embarrassed about it, and Grace likes him for that.

“Let me know when you get to the part where Hillary Duff comes in,” she says around her straw. “Major girl crush alert.”

He chucks a pillow in her general direction. “No spoilers!”

“Whatever.” She rolls onto her side as he clambers up beside her, being careful not to spill her milkshake. “What movie are we feeling tonight?”

“They added Grease Live,” Noah suggests. “Or we could watch Clueless again. Oh, and Lila swears the Sixteen Candles remake is good.”

“The Sixteen Candles remake is _terrible_ ,” Grace says. “Remakes always are.”

Noah heaves a sigh, like the world is just too much for him right now. “You’re right. Lila’s probably just being a dick.”

“Probably,” Grace agrees. She tilts her glass towards him. “Sip?”

“Yes, please.” He takes a big sip and pulls a face that Grace interprets as a positive reaction. “ _Deus, eu te amo._ ”

The syllables are mumbled and obscured by the straw, and Grace quirks her mouth, arching an eyebrow. “What?”

“Nothing.” Noah stretches his arms out in front of him, his wrists popping audibly, and grabs the remote again. “Come on, let’s find a movie.”

They end up watching Bring It On, and Grace pretends she hasn’t seen it before so Noah will get all excited and smiley. She finishes her milkshake and spends the rest of the movie with her feet on Noah’s pillow even though he whines about it and her shoulder pressed against his.

Noah, the true movie buff that he is, stays focused and alert all the way to the credits. Grace, who had long since gotten sleepy and bleary-eyed, has twisted around so her head’s on the pillow while she scrolls through Instagram on her phone. “Turn it off, will you?”

He does as she asks and then crawls in beside her, yawning loudly. “You’re wearing socks tonight, right?’

Grace just grins wickedly and presses her feet into his bare calves, laughing gleefully when he yelps. “Hey! Why are your feet always so _cold_?”

She just shrugs, shutting off her phone and setting it on the bedside table, clicking off the lamp. She watches as Noah squirms around, like he can’t quite get comfortable in his own bed, and she wonders if he usually sleeps here. She suspects he mostly only does for her benefit, rather than falling asleep on one of the couches or just staying up all night. “Hey, Noah?”

In the faint blue light from the window, she can tell that he’s lying on his side, facing her. “Yeah?”

“Your dad doesn’t mind, right?” She feels awkward and weird asking, but she doesn’t want to get either of them in trouble. “When I spend the night, I mean.”

Noah snorts. “He doesn’t care. He barely even notices.”

“Does Lila notice? Would Lila snitch?”

“Lila cares even less than my dad.” He shifts around for a moment, adjusting his pillow. “Besides, it’s not like we’re doing anything illicit in here. I mean, we could always change that, if you wanted, but--”

He breaks off into a laugh when Grace starts beating him with her pillow.

 

**02.**

Grace wakes up with a start, her heart pounding, the faint smell of smoke still lingering in her nose. She doesn’t bother checking for a fire. She knows there won’t be one. She’s had the dream often enough to know it’s just that-- a dream.

She groans quietly and stretches her body out as long as it will go, her back popping. Noah is laying beside her, asleep for once, snoring softly. His shirt rucked up in his sleep, and she finds herself looking at the planes of his abdomen, the curve of his biceps. He’s not as obviously muscled as Alexei or Jamie, but she knows the muscles are there-- she’s seen him play soccer, and she’s had him pin her to the ground. He mumbles something in his sleep and she tears her gaze away, her face hot.

She flips onto her back, careful not to jostle him, and plays a game on her phone while she waits for him to wake up. She knows she’d be welcome to wander around the embassy by herself, but she doesn’t want to deal with Lila or run into Noah’s dad and have to explain why she’s there so early.

He wakes up not too long after her, letting out a loud yawn and burying his face in his pillow. Grace smiles down at him. “Good morning, Sleeping Beauty.”

He peeks out at her, squinting in the light filtering in through his window. “ _Você está bonita,_ ” he says. “Is waking up always this unpleasant?”

She rolls her eyes. “Okay, you know I don’t speak Portuguese. And yes, usually it is. When was the last time you slept?”

He shrugs. “I don’t remember.” He doesn’t sound the least bit concerned about it. "You want breakfast?”

“Obviously.”

 

**03.**

Noah making her breakfast becomes a regular thing for them, and they both stop pretending she spends the night by accident. She spends the night because she _wants_ to, because _he’s_ there, and he lets her.

His mother isn’t very fond of her-- she can’t blame the woman, honestly-- but it means they have to be quiet when they’re in Israel. He sneaks her into his room, giving her a boost so she can clamber in through his window. She doesn’t comment on the fact that he’s basically shoving her up with his hands on her butt, but her cheeks do heat significantly. “Is this really worth all the effort?”

“Oh, yeah.” He sounds out of breath beneath her. “I mean, I know you like Brazil best, but there’ll be a lot of official people there for some meeting. I figured you’d want to avoid that.”

She’s touched. “Thanks.”

He gives her one last shove and she scrambles into his room, landing on the carpet with a thump. She reaches her hands out to grip his arms and help pull him in next, her skin shockingly pale against his.

“I have to say, I’ve never had a girl be in _both_ my beds,” Noah says with a shit-eating grin once they’re both situated inside, and she punches him on the shoulder.

“Wow, what a surprise.”

They bicker all the way down the hall, but quietly, because Ms. Estaban is around here somewhere. Grace is doubled over laughing at some stupid thing Noah had said, and he’s grinning along, his eyes crinkling. “ _Eu quero beijar você agora._ ”

She’s about to ask what that means when she bumps into someone. “Oh, gosh, I’m so--”

She turns around and sees it’s Lila, her arms crossed and her eyebrows sharp enough to cut someone. Lila glares at her and addresses Noah. “What is _she_ doing here?”

“She is here for an innocent, purely platonic sleepover,” Noah responds with just as much ice as his sister. They face off for a moment, communicating in some secret twin body language that Grace can’t understand.

The moment is broken when Lila sighs dramatically and flips her hair over her shoulder. “Whatever you say.”

She starts to push past them, and Grace steps aside to let her pass, but she stops in front of her. “I’d get an English-Portuguese dictionary, if I were you,” she says with a tiny smile on her lips, flicking her gaze to her brother.

“Okay, goodbye, Lila,” Noah says, pushing at her shoulders until she huffs and saunters away. “Sorry. Sisters are the worst.”

“Yeah,” Grace says distractedly. “What’d she mean by that? You’re calling me names in Portuguese, aren’t you?”

She says it teasingly, but Noah’s cheeks flush when she does, and then she feels weird about it. He waves his hand dismissively. “Something like that. Come on, I’ll make you breakfast for dinner.”

Impulsively, she launches herself onto his back, forcing him to catch her legs and give her a piggyback ride to the kitchen. “You know the way to my heart.”

 

 

**+1.**

As much as she doesn’t want to admit it, Grace takes Lila up on her suggestion and finds an English-Portuguese dictionary online. She racks her brain for words she’s heard Noah say around her, and finally she remembers _beijar_. It doesn’t sound similar to any English word, so she spells it phonetically in the search bar.

The first translation to pop up is _kiss_.

She blinks, reading the word over and over again. Surely that can’t be right. None of the other translations make any sense, and she wrinkles her brow in confusion. She’d assumed Noah had been calling her dirty names or playfully telling her to screw off, but this-- she hadn’t prepared for this.

She leans back in her chair, her head spinning. Kiss. _Kiss_. Noah wants to _kiss_ her?

If she really wanted, she could ask Lila for help, and she could get a definitive answer on what exactly Noah’s been saying. But in her gut she knows this translation is right, and the realization makes her feel an odd combination of dizziness and warmth. _Do I want to kiss Noah?_

She grabs her sweater from where it’s slung over the back of her chair and tugs it on as she races down the stairs of the embassy, her feet moving so quickly she’s afraid she might trip. It’s Sunday, meaning Noah’s back in Brazil, which is all the way down the street from America. If she runs, she might be able to make it before his family sits down for dinner.

She hits the concrete running.

She wonders if Rosie and Alexei see her running down the street-- it’s not an uncommon sight, since she runs everywhere-- and she wonders if they know. If _everyone_ knows. She would not be the least bit surprised to learn that everyone knew before her.

By the time she reaches Brazil, she’s breathing heavily. The guards stationed at the gate let her in without question, since she’s there so often that it’s become a normality. She bursts into the front lounge, relieved when she sees Lila and Noah there, sitting on one of the couches playing a video game. When Noah sees her, he pauses the game, a look of concern crossing his face. “Grace?”

She knows what this must look like to him-- like she’s having an attack, or another break. But she doesn’t know how to properly tell him that her chest is heaving and her heart is pounding for a completely different reason, so she just says “You want to kiss me.”

It’s not a question. She thinks she’d meant it as one, but she already knows the answer. Noah makes a choking sound, and beside him, Lila raises an eyebrow. “You-- I-- _what?_ ”

“That’s what you’ve been saying, isn’t it?” Grace’s eyes are wide, her cheeks warm, praying the earth stays still long enough to hold her steady. “Or you’ve said it once, at least. In Portuguese. I-- I looked up the word.”

“Smart girl,” Lila says with a grin.

Noah spins on her. “Out! Out!”

Lila stands and stretches, taking all the time she likes. “Alright, I’m going. Good luck,” she adds with a waggle of her eyebrows, and Noah’s dark skin flushes even further.

“ _Beijar_ ,” Grace says once Lila’s gone, stepping closer to Noah. “It means kiss.”

He swallows visibly. “Yeah. It does.”

“You want to kiss me,” Grace says again, voice quiet, and Noah casts his gaze down. “Don’t you?”

Instead of answering, he knits his brows together, bringing his gaze back up to hers. “Do you _want_ me to kiss you?”

Grace blinks, taken aback. She hadn’t been expecting that. She considers it for a moment, imagining Noah pressing his lips to hers, wondering how it would feel to run her fingers through his hair. The thought makes her lightheaded, so she breathes, “Yes. Yes, I want you to.”

“Okay,” Noah says, his voice very soft. They’re in each other’s space now, and Grace can see hints of gold in his irises, and she’s suddenly glad Lila had left them. The moment feels still and intimate, precarious like one wrong move could shatter it.

Carefully, Noah slides his hands along her neck and into the base of her hair. Her eyelids flutter shut. This already feels like too much, like her skin is turning to fire beneath his hands and by the time he has his lips on her she’ll explode.

“I’m going to kiss you now,” Noah whispers, his breath fanning across her face. 

She knows he’s sensing how warm she is, how unsteady, and she presses her hand on top of his in a sign of thanks. “Okay.”

She waits and holds her breath, her lips slightly parted, and then a moment later she feels Noah kiss her, the touch light and gentle. Warmth blooms in her chest, spreading and making her feel tingly all over, and she slides her hand up his arm until it reaches his shoulder. Noah is kissing her like he’s afraid she’ll change her mind, so she tangles her free hand in his shirt, pulling him closer to her, liking the way it makes his breath hitch in surprise. Their lips move and meet over and over and over, and Grace is dizzy with it, with how nice it feels and how sweet he tastes. She wishes they hadn’t waited so long to do this.

Noah turns slightly, breaking the kiss, but Grace still mouths at the corner of his lips, not ready to break free from the haze he’s put her in. His hands slide down from her hair to her waist and her breath comes out shakily against the side of her face.

She leans back slightly, their faces still close. “ _Obrigado pelo beijo._ ” _Thanks for the kiss._

Noah’s eyes just about pop out of his head and she laughs, feeling light and happy. He tucks her hair behind her ear. “You know Portuguese now?”

“No,” she says, “but I know _thanks_ and _for_ and _kiss_ , so--”

Noah kisses her again, promptly cutting her off, and she doesn’t mind in the slightest.

**Author's Note:**

> in the first part, noah says "god, i love you." in the second, he says "you look beautiful." and in part 3, he says "i want to kiss you." i do not speak portuguese at all but i did my best!!


End file.
